recipes

here are some recipes i have enjoyed making the past month that i wanted to share.

1. slow-cooker short rib ragu. i put this on top of trader joe's egg noodles with a large green salad and you have a great entertaining meal that is hassle-free.

2. lemon chicken soup with orzo. i made this on monday night and doubled the recipe so we could have lots of leftovers. via black eiffel.

3. zuppa toscana. josh is asking me to make this on his birthday he likes it so much. via stephmodo.

4. shortcut sloppy joes. i used ground turkey instead of ground meat and there is still lots of flavor.

5.  kale- walnut pesto pasta. so healthy and good!

6. cranberry harvest muffins. made these at christmas and the spices make this muffin.

7. pumpkin muffins. sshhh. don't tell anyone. i only had 1 egg left and i made this recipe even though it called for 2 eggs and it still turned out great and the girls inhaled them.

8. whole wheat pancakes. we made these on new years day topped with blueberries and they were so tasty we didn't even need syrup or sauce. the girls love it when i cut the pancakes into animal shapes with cookie cutters. via black eiffel.

image from here.

rad ceiling

how would you like your ceiling to look like that? a party everyday. love the creative things, artist, abbey hendrickson is cooking up on a daily basis on her blog aesthetic outburst.

pm custom

here is another etsy artist featured by west elm. pm custom is a one man operation out of miami, florida. i think the above wauli hooks and coat racks are rad. love the industrial feel with the fun color options. shop the pm custom etsy store here and check out his website here.

this weekend

some interior shots of our house from this weekend. it felt so good to organize the pantry, color code the girls' books so the book case looks pretty, bleach the heck out of our white slip cover, and get rid of the christmas tree which makes the room feel 10X larger.

happy weekend

happy friday! you all deserve a little break from the chaos of the holidays. so here's to reading a good book and taking a long nap this weekend. our plans this weekend are to take down our christmas tree, head to a birthday party for my aunt and maybe sneaking in a quick trip to ikea for some organizational boxes and a new duvet cover. i'm embarrassed to say that i am addicted to the twilight series of books by stephanie meyer and i'm almost done with the third one. i was a little slow to jump on that bandwagon because the girls were born right around the time they hit and i had no time for reading that first year of their life except for a humidifier manual and the ikea crib instructions. so i'm going to make a large cup of tea and enjoy the ending of eclipse while the girls nap this weekend. total indulgence for a mom of twins.

image from livet hemma.

the roving home

 

all vintage items you can find at the roving home storefront. i think the prices are right and the items she sells would transform any room. how about using the european map above as a window shade? you should check out the online catalog here. and also check out the roving home blog here.

kisslockheart

here is another rad etsy artist featured in west elm. kisslockheart is the name of the etsy shop and hayley perry is the artist. she is a painter and mixed media artist from fall river, massachusetts. not only does she have a fine arts degree, she is a certified art teacher and is currently getting her masters in fine arts. love her paintings, as i think they would add a pop of color and an energy to any room. buy her paintings here.

b-fragile

      

handmade in a studio in brooklyn, ny, these fish sculptures are made by b-fragile on etsy. they are cast in thassos marble with a wooden base and are inspired by the minimalist form of brancusi.

i think this would look beautiful on an antique table as a contrast between the old and new.

buy these simple and sophisticated, one of a kind sculptures at the b-fragile etsy shop. and check out the blog here.

etsy and west elm

is it just me, or has west elm quickly become one of my favorite catalogs to flip through and get decorating and design ideas from? in my humble opinion they are really taking a step in the right direction with their collaborations with artists and their most recent collaboration with etsy seen right here on their website. the west elm website talks about etsy: "described as both a company and a community, etsy was established in 2005 to help people make a living by making things – and to connect buyers and sellers in a more personal way. the etsy community has since grown to span the globe with buyers and sellers coming from over 150 countries. there are currently hundreds of thousands of sellers with shops on etsy.com." west elm has highlighted their favorite etsy shops in their recent catalog and you can go straight to the independent shops on etsy.com to purchase these unique pieces. they also "collaborate with the etsy sellers on special events in some of our stores. called "i heart handmade" these pop up marketplaces enable etsy artisans to show their wares directly to our customers."

because there are so many artists on etsy these days i feel overwhelmed when searching the site. it was a relief to find west elm's collaboration with some of the etsy's artists to find some unique pieces that i didn't have to spend hours on the website searching for. it's like a juried hand made fair at your finger tips. cheers to this lovely partnership!
                           

so for the next couple of days i'm going to post the etsy artists that were picked by west elm so you can check out some of their work.

image from west elm via design mom.

fresh interiors for the new year

some pretty interior styling to jump start the first monday of the new year thanks to skona hem. wish i could get my hands on this magazine.

image source: skona hem

inspiring kids rooms

some inspiring kids rooms for the new year. love how artwork is displayed in each of these rooms and i wish we weren't renting so i can paint a wall with chalkboard paint.

image sources:
1. lonny magazine
2.  photo by anitta behrendt for bolig magasinet via from scandinavia with love
3. highway design
4. aesthetic outburst via simply lovely's pinterest

polar bear plunge

we celebrated the new year with a trip to easton's beach for the annual polar bear plunge where grown men and women jump into the freezing atlantic ocean. it was 50 degrees and sunny today. about as warm as it gets on january 1st in newport, rhode island. as i was getting the girls dressed downstairs to go  josh walked by with a twinkle in his eye and a towel in his hand. i had no idea he had cooked up a plan to actually jump in the freezing cold water. but, he did! when we arrived there were hundreds, maybe even a thousand people there ready to ring in the new year with a plunge. there was so much energy and adrenaline streaming around in the air, i was almost tempted to strip down to my undies and pretend i was a european who didn't care and jump right in with everyone. but after a second of imaging that scenario, i quickly jumped back into reality and just watched from the sidelines.

see that tall man in the center of the photo with his head down? well, that's josh getting out of the water. yooohooooo to my husband, the brave soul of our family. maybe next year i'll get drunk beforehand and do it because inebriated is the only way to go in that ice bath.

happy new year!

happy new year!! cheers to 2011 being the best year yet! may all your dreams and desires come to fruition this year. isn't lovely that we have a fresh start? i love the feeling of potential busting at the seams at the beginning of the new year. lots of possibilities. and based on past experiences, they will only happen if i make a list or write them down on my yellow legal pad.

thanks for reading my little blog and hugs and kisses to you this 2011!!

photo from confetti system via seesaw.

christmas 2010 in rockport

rory on bearskin neck

karoline on christmas eve checking out the store windows

k at christmas eve dinner. she was thinking about it.

josh and i getting cozy on the couch with 2 sets of grandparents to watch the girls.

karoline couldn't get enough of baby jesus

christmas morn'

my sweet parents still set up a tree even though we were there for less than a week. they always make christmas so special.

smiling because the girls are happy

k+r each decorated a feather tree

stockings lined up

visiting santa on christmas morning in rockport to say thank you

rory bird

keke

the grandpa's holding the girls

some of the group

presents wrapped by the fireplace

rory at christmas dinner

my bro, matt

josh with a crown from the english party poppers

matt is bearing a strange resemblance to the santa cookie

fun at dinner

uncle rob with matt

karoline sporting her new vest, necklace and purse

family time. what christmas is all about.

we headed to rockport, ma this christmas and stayed in a rental house by back beach. my parents got there a couple of days early and decorated the place from top to bottom with fresh greens, white sparkly lights, and a tree. josh's parents came too. i guess we had a weird relationship in the fact that we all get along and it feels like a party every time we are together. there were lots of special moments. the sweet children's pageant at the church service on christmas eve. wrapping the girls in fleece blankets and going outside at dusk to check the moon and stars out over the ocean. walking on bearskin neck and getting last minute christmas treats for the stockings. the girls waking up christmas morning to a lionel train chugging around the tree. visiting santa on dock square on christmas morning. antique sleigh bells and huge horses that galloped through town. great meals filled with lots of laughing. seeing the girls interact with their grandparents. losing electricity sunday night from the huge storm that rocked the east coast. all my clothes smell like a camp fire because we kept a fire going almost all weekend. i always leave from visiting my family with my heart overflowing with love.